Westfield Stratford City say there is no ‘imminent threat’ following Al-Shabaab terror video
Still from the video released by Al-Shabaab - Credit: Youtube
Westfield Stratford City has said there is no “imminent threat” following a video released by Islamist militants which called for an attack on the busy shopping centre.
Somalia based terror group, Al-Shabaab, released a video over the weekend calling on followers to attack popular shopping sites in the UK, US and Canada.
A spokeswoman for Westfield Corporation said they would do everything possible to keep their shopping centres safe.
She said: “There is no evidence of an imminent threat to our shopping centres but as always Westfield Corporation will take every available step to keep our shopping centres safe for staff, retailers and customers.
“Westfield Corporation’s policy is to not publicly discuss security procedures, however our heads of security in the US and UK continue to coordinate their activities with police and government agencies.
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“As usual significant resources continue to be devoted to security arrangements in our shopping centres and they continue to operate as normal.”
In the hour long footage released by the terror group on Saturday, fighters mentioned Oxford Street and gave GPS coordinates for Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford and Shepherd’s Bush.
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A statement from the Metropolitan Police said that the MPS Counter Terrorism Command “is aware of the video” and “is assessing the content”.
The terror group claimed responsibility for the 2013 attack on Kenya’s Westgate Shopping Centre which killed 62 people and left more than 100 injured.
A spokesman for the Home Office added that while they do not comment on specific matters a terror threat in the UK remains high.
He said: “The UK threat level- which is set by the independent Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, JTAC - remains at severe. That means that a terrorist attack is ‘highly likely’ and the public should remain vigilant, but there is no intelligence to suggest one is imminent.”
Islamist militants called for terrorist attacks on London’s busiest shopping areas including Stratford Westfield.
